Recently, a client asked me what he could do right now to produce better sales results. He wanted an easy answer. He wanted me to tell him how to go fast. But, as you may know, I believe fast is slow and slow is fast. I wanted to give him the right answer in the short time we had together, so I told him what I would do if I were him:
1. Talk about the necessary investment as early as possible. Prospects know that acquiring something of a higher quality requires a greater investment. But salespeople mistakenly try to postpone that conversation as long as possible. If there is a compelling reason to change, there is a compelling reason to invest in that change. I mostly work with clients who have higher prices and produce greater results than their competitors. The greater investment is necessary to produce those results. You might believe a higher price builds resistance to a deal, but if you're focused on the value you create (the outcomes), it reduces resistance.
At what point in the sales cycle do you discuss the necessary investment for producing the results your dream client needs?
2. Spend more time building consensus. If there's one thing that could derail an opportunity for you faster and more assuredly than anything else, that would be your mortal enemy: the status quo. The status quo has many defenders. Unless and until you loosen the status quo's grip on your dream client, you aren't likely to move your opportunity forward. You have to help your dream clients understand the case for change and help mitigate the problems it creates for them.
Are you spending time building consensus with all stakeholders?
